10 Ways Creating Connects People to God by Barnabas Piper

The aim of any follower of Jesus should be to draw closer to Him. We are disciples and disciples are followers, learners, and imitators. We live to be more like Jesus and share more of Jesus in all we do. It’s clear how we do this in ministry or spiritual disciplines or evangelism. But what does it look like in work or in creative ventures – art, music, film, writing, design, entrepreneurialism, philanthropy, volunteerism, and more? How can creating draw us closer to God? Here are ten ways.

1. Image Bearing

“So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” – Genesis 1:27

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? The answers are too many to list or explain, so let’s just focus on one: created. We were created in the image of a creator. To use the active voice, the Creator created us in hisimage. This means, in part, that God created us to create. Humans are unique in all creation as creators, as artists, as envisioners and imaginers. This is God’s image in us, and as we create that image becomes clearer.

2. Considering Creation

Only God creates from nothing; the rest of us create using the world God created. That means we need to know this world, to consider God’s creation. The best creators are those who observe the most keenly. And those who observe the most keenly are seeing something of God’s handiwork in a unique way.

3. Connection to Creation

As we see and consider creation we find ourselves relating to it differently. I don’t mean this in some sort of pantheistic, god-in-everything way. I mean that we gain appreciation for aspects of creation we previously had never noticed or cared about. We find ourselves drawn to new things for inspiration or to new places for reflection and rest. We find new genres and styles of art speaking to us. In all of this echoes the voice of God and on all of this lies His fingerprint. Appreciation for creation, in its proper place, is appreciation for the creator.

4. Connection to Creators

When God created the earth He did not do so in isolation. He did so with His Trinitarian self. If that sounds mind-bending and confusing that’s ok – it is. God’s fellowship within Himself is one of the most mysterious, wonderful, and marvelous aspects of who He is. What it means for us is also wonderful and marvelous: we are not created to be isolated beings. Our image bearing is communal, especially because no one of us can reflect even an iota of who God is by ourselves. We need each other, and one way we connect is through creating. Art draws art lovers together. Collaboration enhances each other’s efforts. Music and film are celebrated and enjoyed with others. We can create by ourselves, but creativity at its fullest is a connecting bond between people.

5. Exploration and Discovery

A potter can make the same pot over and over again. A composer can write the same chord progression ad nauseum (just listen to modern worship music or pop country tunes). A journalist can take the same angle on every story or harp on a single cause piece after piece. But at some point, these creative efforts stop being creative and simply become production of a product.

The best creativity is curious – it explores and discovers new styles, truths, realities, places, people, stories, images, and other reflections of God’s handiwork. If we want to continue in creativity we must continually seek out new opportunities and influences, and as we do we encounter numerous opportunities to appreciate the almost seemingly infinite depth of creative variety in God’s world.